This unfortunate twelve-year-old girl’s disfiguring affliction, caused by a tumourous growth in what was once her nose, surely ranks as one of the more grotesquely comical afflictions to come out of China in recent years.

She was a pretty child, the pride of her adoptive parents, until the age of six, when a small tumour appeared around her nose.

Her condition soon worsened, with her nose becoming ever more deformed. The years passed and her nose become more and more distorted, and she soon had to withdraw from school thanks to the inevitable scorn and ridicule her condition attracted.

For once, the responsibility for allowing the illness to progress does not lie solely with the parents for failing to take the girl to a hospital; in fact they did, although several years seem to have elapsed which probably does implicate them, but were anyway refused treatment on the grounds that the girl was still growing.

Throughout this time the once bright and cheery child had become sullen, as might be understandable in her case, though her parents vowed to have her cured and so allow her to attend school once more.

Not satisfied with this situation, and with their daughter’s condition worsening with her experiencing breathing difficulties, the parents then resolved to take her to a larger hospital, and after scraping together the funds, were able to do this.

On visiting the hospital and having her seen by specialists, she was diagnosed with none other than precursor elephantiasis, a terrible disease indeed. Treatment prescribed involves the surgical removal of the tumourous lump, and then subsequent reconstructive surgery, and expensive process. However, the hospital mercifully annulled the better part of the fees, with the result that she may soon be cured, and be able to sniff a flagrant bloom once again.

I've seen people with even worse deformity, but they still got the guts to turn up in college and further their studies. And that's just what I saw in college, and that girl set a fine example to all the other sufferers out there. I'm not sure if she can speak though. I still get some spooks whenever I see her appear in front of me all of a sudden (It's an unavoidable reflex), but deep down I envy her courage.

aww, poor girl, at least she will be able to get fixed up. hopefully with good surgery, seeing as it's china, she might die. it's just a shame she missed out on childhood. i would have been her friend though.